I'd still say you surround yourself with... mediocre incompatible folks to keep things polite, a friend is a too strong and overused word that should actually m

I'd still say you surround yourself with... mediocre incompatible folks to keep things polite, a friend is a too strong and overused word that should actually mean something. A lot of people, I'd say most, desperately want friends and will take quantity over quality anytime. Beggars can't be choosers? It works till it doesn't, and life brings SHTF situations from time to time. You can do serious compromises just to keep them, but I wouldn't call that a proper friendship. Freedom of mind and action that certainly isn't. I'd take 1-2 good friends with similar life views over an army of acquaintances anytime. But that's me. Its extremely hard to find them, most of childhood friends don't qualify since we end up very different and sometimes incompatible people. And nobody is perfect, neither me nor you, so its good to keep it just a bit humble within all that.